Inside this album's sleeve you'll find a photo of four clay caricatures of musicians in a band. There's something about it -- the way that one is happy go-lucky, while another is stooped depressedly over his bass -- that is absolutely hilarious. It almost justifies the price of the CD on its own. Happily, that's not the only good thing about Gram (Schrasj) Lebron's self-titled solo album; much like the adorable picture described above, his songs take on that sort of unself-conscious caricature feel.
The music, like the lyrics, is modest, lo-fi, catchy, un-epic and quirky. One of my favorite moments is when "How Did You Get Here?" slips into a club-style beat, with Gram whistling over it as if he were just a casual spectator from the country, checking out one of these strange, odd discotheques. The whistling gives to a friendly harmonica played over the same beat, making the song inviting to anyone who's everyone felt alienated by the sound of club music.
In various other indie-centric ways, the album keeps that homey feeling. There's the opener, "Hello", in which a character who seems to be a little indie nerd sings lines like "Hello, won't you come onto me?" and "I'm not much for knowing a lot about everything / but the things I do know I know a lot about." At the same time, some of the songs border on serious topics. There's "Chimes", which, like many of the other songs, sounds disjointed at first but makes sense when you can see the big lyrical picture, and "Brand Mgmt.", which discusses "the man who markets himself..." over a pleasant, whimsical arrangement of acoustic guitars, light drums and harmonica.
I smile when I listen to Golden Gram -- it's the same sort of feeling evoked by Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong With Love, but done in a more folksy way. It gets the listener in touch with that earnest, squeaky little voice that's inside of everyone except for bullies. And, if all else fails, it's fun.
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